The development of medicaments for remedy and prevention of diseases caused by the infection of virus lags behind the case of infection diseases of human and animals caused by bacilli or protozoa. Some of viruses as etiological matter are weakened in toxicity or inactivated to develop vaccines for practical use, but the number of such vaccines is not many.
In more specific examples, medicaments except vaccines, for example, chemotherapeutic agents are scarcely utilized as medicaments for prevention and remedy of infection diseases caused by REO virus attacking digestive and respiratory organs, rotavirus, orbivirus and coronavirus attacking digestive organs, or adenovirus, rhinovirus, influenza virus, parainfluenza virus, etc. attacking respiratory organs. The use of a biophylactic stimulant or the like is thinkable which is different in principle of effect and mechanism from chemotherapeutic agents. However, there is scarcely seen an example of such application. In recent years, studies on various peptides were reported as being effective to various diseases caused by viruses. In Japanese Laid-open Patent Appln. No. Sho. 59-51247 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Appln. No. Sho. 59-98049, for example, there are described syntheses of various new peptides and the effect of these synthesized peptides to animal models infected with colitis Germs and herpes virus. In Japanese Laid-open Patent Appln. No. Sho. 60-104019, there is disclosed that a certain kind of acylpeptides containing D-amino acids possesses an effect of increasing survival rate on mice infected with influenza virus or herpes virus. In Japanese Laid-open Patent Appln. No. Sho. 57-192349, there is disclosed that six kinds of tripeptides consisting of the three amino acids; leucine, alanine and phenylalanine exhibits an anti-virus effect on mice infected with hepatitis virus MHV.sub.3. Further, Japanese Laid-open Patent Appln. No. Sho. 58-92642 gives a disclosure that a basic pentapeptide having an amino acid configulation of Arg-Lys-Asp-Val-Tyr is useful for the remedy of diseases caused by the infection of virus.
Nature 321, 439-441 (1986) and ibid. 441-443 (1986) disclose that a certain kind of synthetic nonapeptides exhibits an anti-herpes-virus effect based on its enzyme-inhibitory effect on ribonucleotide reductase of herpes virus.
The majority of the peptides disclosed in these known literatures were synthesized and are novel. However, these are merely reported as above and have not yet been put into practice as medicaments for prevention and remedy of diseases caused by virus. Moreover, no substantial study have been made for the majority of these synthetic peptides on any toxicity, side-effect, antigenicity and anaphylactic shock in case of using these as medicaments for human and animals.